Belief in an afterlife

[Malenfant]

I was talking to my nan a while ago, and religion came up in the conversation.

 

I said i didnt believe in anything, and she seemed quite upset about this (although she isnt a practising theist)

 

it became apparent that the thing that disturbed her most was that i had no problem with the idea that when you die you just die.

 

Obviously, i'd love for death to be another beginning, but i dont feel that it is, and i'm quite comfortable with that, basically because if there isnt anything, i wont be able to percieve that there isnt anything.

 

I'm just curious to know (honestly) if people think that this is a major factor in beliefs, that you will pass on somewhere else, that death is not the end, so to speak. A way to trust that we'll carry on.

 

I know that people feel that a belief in God(s) is beneficial in this life as well, but is it mostly about the hope of an afterlife? about self-preservation?

 

Also, i'd be very interested if there is anyone who believes in a god in some form, and yet maybe does not believe in life after death?

 

and are there any atheists who believe that regardless of a god, that we do carry on?

 

does a belief in a god always go hand in hand with believing our souls pass on to somewhere else?

 

thanks

Edited November 14, 2009 by Malenfant

[Tony T]

I do believe in God and I do believe we are made in the likeness of God. That being said, if so many people don't do anything with the life they have why should they be given an eternity to do more of nothing. Life is a great gift of momentary consciousness that most sperm and eggs don't get. Our essence lives on forever in what we contribute to the world. There is no need whatsoever for us to live on and no rational evidence that it happens. God does not put his creations here on earth to test them...he puts them here as a gift. Waste it and it's just too bad, partner!

 

If today was the ONLY day of your entire life, what would be your greatest accomplishment?

[northstar1]

I'm an atheist, and believe when you die, that's it. end of line.

 

But hey, whatever gets people through the day.

[Malenfant]

thanks for the reply tony.

I'm not asking people to justify their beliefs, or their own existences, i'm just curious about the belief in life after death.

 

I, of course believe in making the most of the life we have, and to waste life is terrible.

 

i dont want this thread to turn into another atheists versus theist thread, as i'm not questioning people's motives or beliefs, i'm questioning the relation between religion and life after death beliefs.

 

Like i said, my nan wasnt concerned that i'm not practising a religion, she was more concerned that i thought nothing happens after you die.

 

To her, the idea that we live on after we die was more important than believing 100% in a god, and I found that curious, as I thought that the two were inextricably linked.

[melodymatters]

I don't believe in God as most people define him/it/her.

 

Yet I feel there is a plane of energy and existance that we can not fathom in our current physical states.

 

I have personally talked with too many reputable people who have had after death experiences, plus the gut feeling that there is more...that I was something else and will be something else again.

 

I just try and be a good person on a day to day basis and figure "after", If there is nothing, I will not know. If there is another plane, I may unconcsious that I ever was melody in a past incarnation.

[disgracian]

I imagine death will be rather like all the time up to the point I was conceived. The universe had no real trouble getting by without my existence then, and neither will it after I'm gone.

 

Contemplating non-existence is a bit of a mind-blower for most people. It tends to vex them to the point where they have to start imagining afterlives and reincarnation because they can't imagine a universe without themselves in it (because it's all they've ever known).

 

That said, I can't really imagine it either. But I don't have to.

 

Cheers,

D.

[deux ex machina]

I do have faith, but I don't think I can count on an afterlife - live your best life now, I say.

 

Learn what you need to learn, pass it on, pay it forward, and all of that.

[mbeewood]

Also, i'd be very interested if there is anyone who believes in a god in some form, and yet maybe does not believe in life after death?

Lots. Deists for example. And those Jews who tried to prove heaven couldn't exist by questioning Jesus. can't remember exactly where in the gospels it was though

 

does a belief in a god always go hand in hand with believing our souls pass on to somewhere else?

 

thanks

 

Usually, but not mutually exclusive

[Toki]

We don't die..per se... we break our forms down into their original molecular state; where eventually through much time become something else.

 

Oh, you mean consciousness, well if death is anything like having anesthetics during surgery, then being without consciousness is fine by me. Quite relaxing really.

[ADF]

I suspect--although no one can say for sure--that the promise of life after death is probably the single greatest appeal religion holds for people. An awful lot of it has to boil down to that. I see smart, thoughtful people buying into the most childish nonsense about survival after death because they cannot bear to face the reality of their own end. Or they cannot bear to think that some of their loved ones are, indeed, gone from them forever. It is understandable. However, I think there is something incredibly noble and brave and moral about being humble before the facts, about admitting that life is finite. It gives us dignity to be able to face our end that way.

[627]

where eventually through much time become something else.

we will become many different things actualy, parts will evaporate, others will be taken up by plants maybe...

actualy, every single day, we are losing cells and making new ones, we shed dead skin all the time etc... the one constant in us is our brains and nerve system and muscles tissues(basicly our brains and hearts), so if you think about it, we die and get reborn at a constant rate

 

I don't believe in an afterlife, of course I wouldn't mind having one, in fact I would have loved to have one, who wouldn't want to spend an eternity in a care free world with his loved ones? but as many here, I just don't see that happening

 

does a belief in a god always go hand in hand with believing our souls pass on to somewhere else?

 

thanks

I think so

Edited November 15, 2009 by 627

[deux ex machina]

...Oh, you mean consciousness, well if death is anything like having anesthetics during surgery, then being without consciousness is fine by me. Quite relaxing really.

 

You're making it sound good. Kind of like a soothing bubblebath.

[quankanne]

hmmm, am wondering if your nan's concerned because she wants you to be "safe"? As in, "if my darling grandchild believes, then she will be okay because she's got something to believe in and something to help her get through life."

 

this thread is interesting, in that it's made me question why I believe what I do. I believe in an afterlife, that a person merits heaven or hell by how he lives; but achieving heaven isn't a goal IMO ... I just want to do right and love to the best of my ability while I can, simply *because* I can, you know?

[Blackfrost]

I do believe in God and I do believe we are made in the likeness of God. That being said, if so many people don't do anything with the life they have why should they be given an eternity to do more of nothing. Life is a great gift of momentary consciousness that most sperm and eggs don't get. Our essence lives on forever in what we contribute to the world. There is no need whatsoever for us to live on and no rational evidence that it happens. God does not put his creations here on earth to test them...he puts them here as a gift. Waste it and it's just too bad, partner!

 

If today was the ONLY day of your entire life, what would be your greatest accomplishment?

 

Well said TonyT, I completely agree!

[Toki]

You're making it sound good. Kind of like a soothing bubblebath.

 

I picture it something like

.

 

Followed by:

[Rooster_DAR]

We will have an afterlife? No one can say for sure, but the promise of heaven or hell as depicted in the bible is certainly a fantastic story that probably warrants not merit.

 

We are still to ignorant (in the grand schema) as humans to know this for sure. I don't know how humans developed the strange beliefs we have, but it is for most people comforting to believe we do carry on.

 

I'm happy knowing that my body matter will be scattered back into the universe at some point, and the end of my life doesn't have to be a bitter end if I live for accomplishment and happiness.

 

Regards,

[Vertex]

I imagine death will be a lot like existence was for me before I was born.

 

The idea of an afterlife may be "comforting," but honestly, the idea that my time as a sentient being is limited gives me inspiration/motivation to make the most out of my time here.

[RA1]

 

I know that people feel that a belief in God(s) is beneficial in this life as well, but is it mostly about the hope of an afterlife? about self-preservation?

 

Also, i'd be very interested if there is anyone who believes in a god in some form, and yet maybe does not believe in life after death?

 

and are there any atheists who believe that regardless of a god, that we do carry on?

Thanks for intelligent and though-provoking questions.

 

I have a dear friend who does not believe in god but believes that our spirits carry on.

 

I don't believe in god or in an afterlife.

 

I don't know whether he promise of an afterlife is the biggest benefit for believers in god. I had always assumed it was for many but assumptions can be wrong and I've never seen an opinion poll on the question.

[Ross PK]

I don't know whether he promise of an afterlife is the biggest benefit for believers in god. I had always assumed it was for many but assumptions can be wrong and I've never seen an opinion poll on the question.

 

I think it's one of the benefits. I think the other benefit for believers in God is because they have a hole in their lives that they're trying to fill, it's not much different from someone using drugs to fill that void in their life.

[deux ex machina]

I picture it something like

.

 

Followed by:

 

 

I feel so:

 

 

Well, ________ really. And that's the way I like it.

[Ody]

Obviously, i'd love for death to be another beginning, but i dont feel that it is, and i'm quite comfortable with that, basically because if there isnt anything, i wont be able to percieve that there isnt anything.

 

I'm just curious to know (honestly) if people think that this is a major factor in beliefs, that you will pass on somewhere else, that death is not the end, so to speak. A way to trust that we'll carry on.

 

I know that people feel that a belief in God(s) is beneficial in this life as well, but is it mostly about the hope of an afterlife? about self-preservation?

 

Yes I agree with all of this. Giving up the notion of an afterlife was the hardest part of giving up childhood Christianity for me. While I agree in my head with the notion of not perceiving being dead, so it's nothing to fear, I can't shake a pit of the stomach dread of this, despite being a firm atheist. This certainly has affected the pace and progression of my changes in belief during my life.

 

Also, aside from the fear of death thing I do rationally place a high value on my own life, considering it a good one. Thus I genuinely want it to not end - however I also realize the subjectivity of that belief.

 

PS nice signature.

[dreamer84]

im like the others who think when we die we cease to exist, well in our minds because its not working, or not consious to it... similar as to when we are born(or shall i say before we are born)

 

anyway im beginging to believe that all the hell and heaven talk was something made up to keep people in check about why they should act a certain way. Ie. to get a child to stop misbehaving you will go to hell, its a bad nasty horrible place. and who siad hell had to be hot? my hell would be living in constant cold. I love hot weather lol

 

 

i believe in a higher being (an entity or spirit), sometimes things happen that you cannot explain...its like the game The Sims. you play the character and give them nudges (if you play the free will mode.) they make decisions, until they die, then after that they cease to exist on earth, but in people's memories.

[marlena]

Yes, I believe that fear of dying is the cornerstone of all religions. People need the comfort of a system of beliefs that promise an after life whether it be reincarnation or the Pearly Gates of Heaven or anything else the imagination can conjure up. The concept of nothingness is too terrifying for us humans to digest.

 

I'd like to believe that somehow our essence does live on in some nebulous plane of reality, another dimension as it were but somehow the skeptic in me has difficulty in truly believing this.

 

Personally, what I find most horrific is the thought that I will never, ever meet up with my loved ones again. Of course I won't have awareness of this when it finally happens but still it hypes up my existential angst big time.

[disgracian]

I don't think it's terrifying as much as simply impossible to imagine. From the perspective of a subjective being, non-existence makes no sense at all. When contemplating death, there is for me an irresistably strong pull towards the question, "Then what?" I'm probably not the only one who thinks this way.

 

The following internal dialogue is usually pretty funny:

 

"Nothing, that's what."

 

"But what will that be like?"

 

"Nothing, you won't be there to experience it."

 

"So it will just be empty blackness forever?"

 

"No, not even that."

 

"Then what?"

 

*facepalm*

 

Cheers,

D.

[Moai]

I find the fact that there is probably no life after death (never been dead, so i can't say with certainty) comforting.

 

If you "live" for eternity, not only would it eventually become horribly boring, but there would be now joy in the "little" things like laughing at a stupid joke until your eyes water and sides hurt, or the smell of fresh coffee in the morning...

 

And no physical existence, so no visceral experiences.

 

In any scenario, if there is an afterlife, you eventually become horribly bored waiting for the eventual heat-death of the Universe and its eventual collapse into singularity.